Corry would go on to lose the game 42-7, and Reiser, as anyone watching the field would know, clearly was a stellar player. He would rack up 76 rushing yards and score a touchdown -- one of 30 he would tally by the end of the season, when area coaches would name him co-player of the year for Region 4.

The three Corry students finished their sign-carrying jaunt.

"I don't know," one of the students would say later, explaining why the three went over to the Northwestern side. "Just having fun -- messing around at a football game."

The Corry Police Department had a different take. A police officer at the game charged the three students with the summary of disorderly conduct, though school officials took no disciplinary action against them.

The criminal charges, which the Erie County District Attorney's Office is prosecuting, have put the students in the middle of a fight over the First Amendment.

One of the students, who was 18 at the time, pleaded guilty and agreed to pay a $50 fine and costs. The other two -- who were 16 and 17 at the time -- are challenging the charges in Erie County Court. They want a judge to toss the case, arguing that the Constitution protects them from criminal charges.

"This should have never been handled by a law enforcement agency," said the father of the younger student. "I don't condone what my son did, but he did not do an illegal activity. It is free speech. We are a free country, last I knew."

Said the father of the other boy: "What they did, in retrospect, might not have been a good idea. But we didn't feel it was a criminal act. It was a juvenile act. But that is what they are -- juveniles. They are criminalizing kids acting like kids."

The Corry police and the District Attorney's Office are undeterred. They are arguing that charges were warranted, based on what the signs said and because the students displayed them in front of the stands of the opposing team.

The prosecution is contending the signs amounted to "fighting words," which the government can regulate because they have no legitimate purpose and risk causing "imminent violence," Assistant District Attorney Matthew Militello wrote in a seven-page legal brief in the case.

"The right to Freedom of Speech is not an absolute right," Militello wrote.

Signs and rules

The decision in the Corry case rests with Erie County Judge Stephanie Domitrovich, who is set to rule soon. She held a summary nonjury trial on March 10, and the prosecution and defense filed their briefs last week.

One of Domitrovich's concerns, based on what she said in court, is how bystanders -- including Brandon Reiser's mother, who was at the game -- interpreted the meaning of the signs, especially "#32 sucks."

"So what did '#32 sucks' mean to you?" Domitrovich said to Jill Reiser in court.

She said the sign upset her.

"I just sat there in shock," Jill Reiser also said at the trial. "Number 32 is my son. And he absolutely does not suck. Disrespectful."

The Erie Times-News is not identifying the two remaining defendants because they were minors when charged.

According to testimony and court records, the 18-year-old student who pleaded guilty, Michael J. Halfast, was accused of carrying the "Corry Beavers" sign along with the 16-year-old. The 17-year-old student was accused of carrying the "#32 sucks" sign.

A Corry police officer, Chad Carrier, who also works as a school resource officer, charged the three. Corry District Judge Brenda Nichols found the 16-year-old and the 17-year-old guilty at a hearing on Nov. 14, the same day Halfast pleaded guilty.

The 16- and 17-year-old students appealed their convictions to Erie County Court, where Domitrovich held the trial on March 10.

Carrier at the trial testified he charged the students after receiving a complaint at the game from Jill Reiser. He testified he did not see the signs and never recovered them.

The Corry School District took no action against the three, testified William West, a principal at the high school. District policy allows signs at football games but, West testified, it prohibits Corry students from visiting the stands of the visiting team at Corry's home football games. West said an announcer reads that rule over the public-address system before each home game.

Unclear from testimony was whether any of the three students heard that announcement. Regarding the signs, Halfast -- he was the only student who testified -- told Domitrovich the three were "just having fun" when they walked by the Northwestern stands with the signs.

Another prosecution witness was James Seifert, Jill Reiser's father and Brandon Reiser's grandfather. He testified he was at the game with some of his other grandchildren, and had to hold them back when they saw the sign that read "#32 sucks."

"My grandkids wanted to go after them," Seifert said.

'Matter of principle'

Militello, the assistant district attorney, cited Seifert's testimony in his brief as proof that the words on the sign "would create a genuine likelihood of violence by fans of the visiting team."

The lawyer for the two remaining defendants, Robert D. Kinnear, said in an interview that the signs were most likely meant to be sarcastic, because Brandon Reiser's talent was well known, and that the students meant no harm. He said the teens' behavior "never rose to the level" of a criminal offense.

Kinnear, who has offices in Corry and Warren, said he wondered whether the charges were partly the result of school officials and the police in Corry being unfamiliar with the boisterous activity of fans at other area high school sporting events.

Kinnear referred to events closer to the city of Erie, especially games between McDowell and Cathedral Prep. Catcalls, many of them obscene, are common at those contests.

"They probably have never gone to a McDowell-Prep hockey game, and I played for McDowell," Kinnear said.

The court fight over the Corry High School football game could play out for a while. Kinnear's clients said they will appeal if Domitrovich rules against the two students.

"It is not illegal to hold a sign at a football game," the father of the 16-year-old said. "Let's use some common sense."

"This is a matter of principle," the father of the other student said. "We could have quit earlier -- community service, a $50 fine. But, what the hell. We have a courtroom. Let's use it."

ED PALATTELLA can be reached at 870-1813 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNpalattella.